The San Francisco 49ers’ blowout win over the New England Patriots in Week 4 began with an interesting wrinkle.
Strong safety Talanoa Hufanga was ruled out of the contest with an ankle injury he suffered in Thursday’s practice. That opened the door for a new starter to jump into that role.
For the first two weeks it was veteran George Odum in the starting spot while Hufanga finished his recovery from an ACL tear he suffered last season. This week was different.
With Hufanga nursing an ankle issue, the 49ers turned to rookie fourth-round pick Malik Mustapha as their starter.
“Yeah, we thought he was ready for it,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said in a press conference after the game. “When him and (Odum) G.O. were going, we started rotating him a little, I think the second week. He’s been doing awesome in practice. We started to mix him in there in game two. I think (Hufanga) Huf came back in game three, so we didn’t need to do it. But when we found out Huf couldn’t play today, we knew he was next man up.”
Mustapha rotated in and actually out-snapped Odum in Week 2, but he didn’t see much action in Week 3.
In Week 4 he was the strong safety, an indicator that he’s eclipsed Odum on the depth chart and has firmly grasped the No. 3 safety spot where the club will turn to him if there’s an injury. They may also start sprinkling in some three-safety looks where Mustapha is on the field with Hufanga and Ji’Ayir Brown.
For now he’s steadily climbing the depth chart. Barring a major injury he’ll be the No. 3 safety the rest of this year, but his rise bodes well for his chances to snag a starting job in 2025.